SPOKANE, Wash. – Led by a career-best-25 kills, Annika Hester helped lead the Oregon State volleyball to a five-set win on Saturday afternoon over Gonzaga.
The Beavers took the match at 25-18, 21-25, 18-25, 25-22, 15-11.
The offensive leaders for Oregon State in addition to Hester included Zaria Thornton (10 kills), Lauren Rumel (eight kills), Emma Lilo (33 assists) and Alara Doganyuz (19 assists). On the defensive end, a trio of Beavers – Yasemin Narlioglu (19), Vivian Light (16) and Alexis Rodriguez (12) put up double-figures in digs. Zaria Thornton turned in a match-high of three service aces.
Battling off a 7-0 run by the Bulldogs to tie the affair late at 21 in a pivotal fourth, Oregon State (5-12, 3-4 WCC) rattled off four of the next five points to send the match to a winner-take-all fifth after being on the brink of a consecutive setback. Oregon State’s offense, returning to a better form in the fourth, used runs of 7-1, 5-0 and 3-0 to put away Gonzaga.
Hester used seven kills in the fourth to extend the match as she led the Beavers to the three-point win before tallying another six in the fifth to help seal the win after the distance.
Led by five service aces – two by Thornton – in the first set, Oregon State coupled those with holding Gonzaga to just a .030 clip on the way to a seven-point win at 25-18. Rodriguez paced the Beavers in the frame with six digs while Lilo dished five assists. Hester and Rodriguez paced the attack with a pair of kills apiece.
Eight points – on separate 4-0 runs – from Gonzaga turned the tide of the second in their favor. In addition to the timely points, the Bulldogs took advantage of 13 errors by Oregon State. A set later, Gonzaga hit at a .545 clip and held Oregon State to under .300 (.259) to push them to the brink, winning the third set at 25-18. The Bulldogs turned in runs of 4-0 and 5-0 to pull away in the frames.
Trailing 3-0 in the winner-take-all fifth set, the Beavers responded and did it quickly – turning the tides for a lead they would not relinquish at 6-5. With Gonzaga creeping back to within three at 10-7, consecutive Rumel blocks stretched the lead back for good on the way to the win.
Oregon State will return home next week to face Saint Mary’s this upcoming Thursday, October 24. First serve against the Gaels is set for 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
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